The Experiment
by SpiralZebra
Summary: Luke is a new trainer in the Kanto region, aiming for the League. Soon though, his journey is cut short and he is forced to see horrors that he didn't think were possible. Constructive criticism is appreciated.
1. Chapter 1

When every kid turns 10, they are able to start their pokémon journey. They're all given a choice of 3 starters of the fire, water and grass types. Most kids take this opportunity to try to become top trainers, however I didn't. I decided to stay at home and continue studying, for pokémon battling never really interested me much and wasn't what I wanted to do with my life, instead wanting to open a business. Consequently, I never studied anything about pokémon after the age of 10 and forgot a lot of things for the next 4 years. Now knowing my future was getting nowhere, I decided to give pokémon a try.

I'm Luke Spire, and today was the day when my journey started, at the age of 14. I had forgotten a lot about pokémon except for the basic concepts, such as type matchups. I knew enough to get by though, so I wasn't worried much at all. I was however, tired, since I had stayed up all night to decide which pokemon I should get as my first, and I made up my mind. At exactly 8:25 AM, I was at Professor Oak's lab.

"Professor, it's Luke, I'm here to get my pokémon." I said while ringing the intercom. There was no answer for a while. Knowing the professor, he was probably researching more about the newly discovered mega-evolutions.

"Ah, Luke my boy, come right in." I heard a whirring sound and the door opened. Walking in I saw that the Professor's monitor was filled with images of various pokémon and their mega-evolutions. Three images caught my eye, and they were those of Charizard, Venusaur and Blastoise or rather their mega-evolved counterparts. I knew mega-evolutions existed, but I never knew that mega-evolutions for the starters were discovered! This got me excited. At just that moment, Professor Oak stepped in the room carrying a tray with three pokéballs.

"Good day to you Professor." I greeted him.

"Good day Luke. You got here earlier than I expected, that's why nothing is set up. I thought you'd only show up at 2:00." He said.

"I couldn't sleep Professor, so I decided to come here earlier than usual. Are the pokémon ready?" I asked.

I had decided overnight that Squirtle would be my best choice, since he would take care of Pewter's gym, be on par with Cerulean and know Dig and Ice Beam by Vermilion and Celadon.

"So Luke, I have here Bulbasaur, Squirtle and Charmander," he said while releasing them from their pokéballs, "all of them hatched just yesterday, so they are all very healthy. Which one do you choose?"

In front of me now stood Charmander, Squirtle and Bulbasaur, all them looking very healthy and equally cute. They all looked normal except for one thing: Squirtle was much smaller than its usual size, even for a newborn. It was the height of a laptop screen and the width of my shoe. This just made me want to train it even more, since it would make for an interestingly sized Blastoise.

"Professor, I noticed that this Squirtle is smaller than other Squirtle. Is there a reason for this?" I asked him while picking it up.

"A fine question. We suspect it could be cell mutation, but other than that we don't have much to go on." He explained.

"I see. Well, I choose Squirtle. I have a feeling it'll be fun to train." I said decidedly. Even though it was smaller than regular Squirtle, it would still be strong. At least that's what I thought.

"An excellent choice Luke. I know you'll be good friends." The professor reassured.

"One last thing Professor, what gender is it?" I asked. I never liked referring to anyone as an it, even pokémon. I had to know their gender.

"Squirtle's a he, Luke. Have fun!" He exclaimed.

"Thank you Professor, I will." I responded. With that I headed back home to get my Pokédex and backpack. Everyone got a Pokédex after turning regardless of what they wanted to do. Granted, I may not used mine in 4 years, but I always took good care of my belongings, so I was sure it worked. I released Squirtle from his pokéball and introduced him to my room.

"Squirtle, come out." I said. The pokéball popped open and Squirtle materialized in front of me. He really was small, my PC was taller than him.

"Squirt? Squirtle Squirt?" He said while looking around.

"Squirtle, this is where I live. We'll be here for 2 hours before leaving. Do you like it?" I told him.

"Squirt? Squirtle Squirt Squirtle!" He said happily. I assumed he liked it.

"So Squirtle, what do you say we raise you to be the best Blastoise ever?" I asked excitedly.

"Squirt Squirtle!" He said while clenching his 'fists'.

2 hours went by without much happening, except for me showing Squirtle a pokémon book about evolutions. He got especially excited when seeing his evolutionary line and other water types. Soon I was due to leave, so I packed my things and left. I decided to let Squirtle ride on my shoulder since he was so small, and it also gave him an opportunity to see the world. I made my way past Professor Oak's lab and onto Route 1. I knew there weren't many strong pokemon in this route, so I decided to test Squirtle's battling abilities. Even though he was small, Squirtles were renowned for being very defensive, so I was confident. After a bit of searching, I finally found a strong-looking Rattata that we could battle.

"Alright Squirtle, ready for battle? Then get out there!" I urged him.

"Squirt?!" He seemed to ask while making a shocked face.

"Squirtle? What's the problem?" I asked him. "You're supposed to fight, so use Skull Bash on that Rattata!" I told him.

"Squirt? Squirtle Squirt?" He asked.

"I know it seems scary, but it's not. Trust me, this will make you stronger." I reassured him. Squirtle was probably scared of battling due to his small size.

"Squirt? Squirtle Squirt!" He finally agreed. He started to prepare a Skull Bash at the Rattata and soon he was charging at it. Obviously, the Rattata dodged and Squirtle hit a boulder. Normally, the Skull Bash would break it, however because of Squirtle's small size, it only left a small crack.

"Squirtle, are you okay? Can you get up?" I shouted/asked to him. I noticed he didn't answer. I tried again.

"Squirtle, are you okay?" Nothing again. Now I was worried. I ran up to Squirtle and saw something terrifying, he was bleeding from the head and convulsing. Since I spent so much time looking for a wild pokemon, I wandered farther away from Pallet Town. My only option now was the Poke Center in Viridian City, and I had to get there fast. Squirtle was still convulsing heavily and wasn't showing any signs of stopping.

"Squirtle, I'm so sorry. I should've assumed that you were too young and small to battle." I said, not knowing if he could listen. "Shit, I shouldn't have ordered a Skull Bash. Shit, Shit!"

I continued running for at least 2 hours before reaching Viridian City. I didn't stop running until I got to the Pokémon Center. I looked down at Squirtle, and he was vomiting blood.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Okay, so Chapter 2 is finally here. Updates will, sadly be quite irregular. I only write when I have some free time and unfortunately that's not very often. School has just started again for me, so don't ever assume this story is abandoned unless I explicitly point it out in an update. Thank you.**

"Nurse Joy, please you've got to help me. My Squirtle is in danger." I said while gasping for air.

"Oh my," she said taking one look at Squirtle. "what happened?"

"I'll tell you later just please save my Squirtle. If he dies..." I said fearfully

"Alright, then follow me. It looks like your Squirtle is having a seizure. We'll have to get him to the ICU to determine the problem. Has he been in a battle recently?" She asked with a concerned tone.

"Yeah, he has. Just 3 hours ago in fact. We were fighting a Rattata and I ordered him to use Skull Bash, but he missed and hit a boulder. I went to look and he was like this." I explained.

"I see. This Squirtle is also a newborn with a cell mutation problem, am I correct?" She asked worriedly.

"Y..yes. I made a terrible mistake, I shouldn't have ordered him to use Skull Bash."

"There's your problem. Using such a powerful move on such a small pokemon can have disastrous consequences. We'll stop the convulsing and ease the pain but I fear there's not much we can do for him. Surgery is definitely needed, as I'm afraid Squirtle has a lesion in his brain." She said fearfully.

Now I was truly worried, my pokemon was just 1 day old, he couldn't die like this. I would forever hate myself if something like this happened. I could go back and get another starter, but I'm not sure I would bond with them. It just wouldn't be the same.

"Nurse Joy, are you sure you can't save him?" I asked with desperation.

"I don't know." Was all she said.

The next few minutes in the sprint to the ICU were tense but quiet. All I could think about was Squirtle and whether or not he was going to make it. I looked down at Squirtle and now he was firing Bubble at Nurse Joy, the seizure must have confused him. We were now in front of the ICU and promptly went in.

"Chansey number 1 and 6 we have an emergency! Get this Squirtle on a bed and give him some AEDs now!" Nurse Joy exclaimed. 2 Chansey immediately came over and put Squirtle on a then tried to give Squirtle AEDs and some Demerol, however this proved difficult with Squirtle still confused and hostile. He was firing Bubbles and Water Guns at everything he could see, the only option was to sedate him. Soon Nurse Joy came over with a form for me to sign.

"Luke, I need you to sign this. We need your permission to use sedatives on Squirtle." She said while handing it to me.

I quickly sifted through the pages to see the risks, though I don't know why. Anything would be better than death. I hastily signed my name and handed it back to Nurse Joy.

"Alright, that's all we'll need. Please wait outside" she told me.

The 2 Chansey came back with a needle, probably the sedative was in there. Squirtle was still thrashing about wildly, so one Chansey had to hold him down while the other one injected him with the sedative. In a matter of seconds the thrashing stopped, and Squirtle settled down. He seemed to have 'woken up' and was now checking his surroundings, with a scared look in his face. He instantly started to cry and frantically tried to get down from the bed, eventually falling down. I bolted through the door and picked him up off the ground, trying to comfort him.

"Squirtle, please calm down, I'm here now. Please stop crying." I said while rubbing his shell. I knew he liked it.

"Squirt? Squirt Squirtle Squirt?" He seemed to ask.

"Squirtle, don't cry. You're here for your own good. Please don't cry." I reassured him.

"Squirt? Squirt." He drifted to sleep, he must have been exhausted after all all those attacks that were fired. I went back into the ICU and put him back down on his bed.

"Nurse Joy, what now?" I asked calmly.

"We'll need to do thorough exams to see where Squirtle is hurt."

"I see. Will he need any surgery?" I asked her.

"All signs point to yes, that seizure was a dead giveaway. He may need brain surgery." She said confidently.

I didn't say anything after that, just nodded and walked away. I rented a room in the pokemon center and spent the evening in the ICU room with Squirtle, still ashamed of what I caused. I didn't know if Squirtle would ever trust me again after this, hell I wouldn't blame him if he didn't. I should have assumed that using such a powerful attack would cause something like this. Then came the time to do the exams, during which time I wasn't allowed to accompany Squirtle. With nothing left to do I decided to call Professor Oak and tell him my situation.

"So you see Professor, I told Squirtle to use Skull Bash on a Rattata and he missed and hit a boulder. He started convulsing and next thing I know I'm rushing to the Center." I explained, "They're examining him now to see if he'll need surgery. I wasn't allowed to be with him.

"I see. Luke, do be more careful from now and try to refrain from using physical attacks." He advised.

"Yeah, I will Professor. Thanks again for supporting me, I appreciate it."

"Of course Luke, feel free to call me whenever you need advice." He reassured me.

I hung up and went to bed, exhausted. I crawled under the covers, fearing the worst for tomorrow. I was soon asleep.

I woke up to the soothing sound of an alarm blaring in my ear. I must have forgotten to disable it last night, I was so tired. I hastily put on my clothes and shoes and went to talk to Nurse Joy.

"Nurse Joy, is Squirtle alright? Will surgery be needed?" I asked frantically.

"I'm afraid so. Squirtle has a very serious brain lesion as a result of the collision with that boulder, so if we don't do anything he will die. We also discovered something interesting, Squirtle is unable to evolve." At that last sentence I jumped.

"What? What do you mean he won't be able to evolve?" I asked surprised.

"Well, it's not that he can't evolve, but rather he shouldn't. You see, because of your Squirtle's cell mutation, when he evolves his body gets bigger but his organs don't. He'd die from multiple organ failure. To make sure this wouldn't happen, we injected Squirtle with microscopic particles of an everstone to make sure he'd never evolve." She remarked.

"Oh, okay." I said glumly, "So can you just hand me the surgery approval form? I want to get this over with."

Nurse Joy quickly took out a form from her desk and handed it to me. I skimmed through the pages and signed it at the end.

"Nurse Joy, is it possible to do this now?" I asked while handing her the form.

"Why yes, it's not that busy this time year since most trainers are already past Viridian City." She explained.

"Thank you."

She then gestured for me to follow her, and she led through the halls all the way back to the ICU room. Opening the doors, she told the Chansey:

"Chansey number 8 and 4, get Squirtle to the operation room." Was all she said.

Squirtle was anesthetized, and had been since last night. Any sudden movements such as the ones last night could send him into a fatal seizure. This operation was going to be risky, but in my opinion, it was worth the risk. By now we were nearing one of the operation rooms.

"Luke, I'm going to need you to stay outside." She told me.

As much as I wanted to be with Squirtle in there, I didn't want to disrupt their operation. At least the room had a window, so I could see what they were doing. This gave me a bit of a relief.

The next hour was uneventful, all I could see was Nurse Joy and the Chansey opening Squirtle's head. The tension in this was palpable, so much so I could feel the pain Squirtle was unconsciously going through. Then it happened.

Squirtle flatlined.


End file.
